Forbiden Flower: Marijuana Should Not Be Legalized

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Marijuana should not be legalized
Introduction
Whether marijuana ought to be legalized or not is one of the hot topics in the world today. The usage of marijuana leads to contradicting opinions and experiences in the society. Nevertheless, other regions such as Colorado and Washington have already legalized the drug. Other people claim marijuana is good to their health while others claim the drug is harmful. Marijuana has both healths, religious and social effects to the users. More so, the economic impact of marijuana hurts the economy of the respective countries. Through the various negative and positive effects of marijuana, this essay seeks to explain why marijuana should not be legalized.
Health effects of marijuana
* Mental health effects
Illegal usage of marijuana leads to numerous types of mental illness. Hence, the legalization of marijuana may results to a society that is not mentally fit. Marijuana consumption leads to both short term mental and long term mental effects. Marijuana has tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a chemical substance that is responsible for many mental problems. According to Volkow (2014), usage of marijuana at an early age leads to mental illness such as psychosis and schizophrenia. Furthermore, the drug causes hallucinations which results to anxiety and a sense of paranoia if taken in large quantities.
In addition, marijuana causes memory lapse. For instance, the inability of people to remember something that happened just a few minutes ago. Therefore, marijuana leads to short term memory lapse. More so, Marijuana leads to lack of concentration and panicky feelings. Long term use of marijuana has negative effects on the brain function which include inability to learn and massive depression.
* Vision impairment
One of the major effects of marijuana is redness of the eyes shortly after using the drug. Legalization of marijuana will create a population that is red-eyed due to marijuana. THC in marijuana lowers the blood pressure which dilates the blood vessels in the eye. Furthermore, marijuana impacts the dilation of the pupil. High doses of marijuana impact the peripheral vision.
More so, legalization of marijuana will increase the rate of accidents on our roads. The number of collisions reported to insurance companies in Colorado, Washington and Oregon, increased by 3% after commercialization of marijuana, (Solommonsen-Sautel et al, 2014). Therefore, legalization of marijuana in areas that are still to legalize it will lead to more accidents. Excessive use of marijuana may lead to total blindness in the long-term
* Marijuana and cancer
Marijuana plant has 4000 known chemicals that break down into extremely many sub chemical substances once it is used. Only a few of the sub-chemicals like THC create the actual “high” in people. However, the other many sub-chemicals are toxins and poisonous, that scientists have proved they are directly related to cancer infection. One of the hazardous chemicals is carcinogen which breaks down the gene that enhances cells development. Therefore, carcinogen increases the vulnerability of lungs to cancer in the long-term.
During marijuana smoking, holding the smoke in lungs leads to great exposure to the hazardous chemicals in marijuana. Furthermore, scientific evidence has revealed that chronic marijuana users develop larynx and mouth cancer. Their lips become black and black spots appear between fingers. In addition, scientists indicate marijuana usage increase the potential of one getting neck and head cancer. If marijuana can be directly attributed to certain types of cancer, why should it be legalized?
* Other health problems related to marijuana
Marijuana users have a black strain on their hearts although scientists do not know if it is THC or the other chemical substances. However, it may be substances in the inhaled smoke such as particles from the burnt plant or as carbon dioxide, which negatively affects the heart. Marijuana leads to fluctuations in blood pressure, low ability for blood to carry oxygen and increased heart rates. In this situation, the heart has less oxygen but needs to work harder, increasing the chances of heart attack, (Thomas et al, 2014). In people with artery disease, the drug damages the cholesterol plaque that damages the artery that transport oxygen to the heart and ultimately leading to heart attack
In pregnancy women, marijuana affects both the women and the unborn child. Mothers, who smoke marijuana during their pregnancy, have increased risk of giving birth to babies with anencephaly. Therefore, legalization of marijuana will lead to many cases of babies having brain malfunction. More so, the babies end up in the neonatal intensive care units (NICU) rather than their parent homes. Additionally, the babies tent to have small heads and low birth weight, (Hayatbakhsh, 2011).
Environmental effects of marijuana
The environmental consequences of marijuana are very detrimental. Marijuana planting in remote areas leads to forest fragmentation, Soil erosion, stream modification and huge landslides. If marijuana is legalized, the effects of marijuana on the environment would worsen leading to unfriendly environmental for human beings. Water that passes through marijuana plantations into rivers and streams absorb chemicals that threaten the life of amphibians, salmon and other water animals.
In California, which is the highest producer of marijuana in U.S.A, it was revealed that pesticides and herbicides used in marijuana plantations have the potential of making river streams to dry up, (Thompson et al, 2016). The smoke from marijuana smokers pollutes the air, which also can cause health problems to passive smokers.
Marijuana effect on crime